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6-3-11

Hit a road block with the trunk. Not sure how I am going to make that channel along the perimeter of the trunk. Looks like I will have to get a small metal brake at least. That won't help with the curves though.

Switched gears today. Started to take the front passenger fender off so I can clean up and paint the other side of the engine. Pretty straight forward. Bottom corner of the fender, by the door is pretty rotted and the bolts broke. Luckily the metal it was attached to was so rusty it pulled apart anyway. The gunk on the suspension doesn't look as bad on this side as the other side was, but there is still a lot.

I noticed that the spring is missing on my heat riser valve.

I've read that the best way to get the manifold off is to use a manifold wrench. I'll have to go out and get one of those.

Sorry about the quality of the pics. I'm stuck using my 5 year old cell phone for a couple of weeks.

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6-4-11

More disassembly today. Took off the drivers side fender again. Removed the fuel pump and manifolds. Drained and removed radiator and support. Took the water pump off and pulled the distribution tube out with a hook on a bent up coat hanger. It was very clean, with just a little muck on the inside. No holes were blocked.

According to my engine number, my 288 engine is supposed to have hydraulic lifters. I know nothing about engines. I took a picture of the lifters. Are they hydraulic?

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The lifters are hydraulic. Solid would have an adjust nut on the end. You can go to Max Merritts site, 48-54 and do a search for lifters. He has pictures of each type on the page.

This is what the solid lifters look like.

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Just for interest's sake - I had rubber washers under the top of my fenders also. Don't know if that was done at the factory to get things 'aligned' or not but I guess if it works then it's a reasonable way to do it . . .

From what I understand, those rubber donuts were there to aid in installation and alignment of the fenders factory assembly. That is why they are never found in the parts plates or a part number for them,

Thanks for the confirmation guys on the lifters guys.

As for the rubber donuts, I took a pic on this side because they were actually where they were supposed to be. When I first took off the drivers side fender, they fell out and I had no idea what they were. This way, anyone in the future (plus when I reassemble) will know where to put them.

6-20-11

Finally a little car time today. Removed the thermostat housing to find that my car does not have one! Hope that is not an indication of overheating problems.

Next I flushed out the block. Started by running the hose at full power up the water pump hole. This filled up the block until it came out the thermostat hole in the head. Then I put the hose in the thermostat hole. Flushed twice, then I put the distribution tube in and out a couple of times kind of like a scraper. Very little debris was on the tube. Cleaned the tube and reverse flushed two more times. Water was coming out nice and clear and no more debris on the distribution tube so I put it back in for good. Realized I have been spraying water around the manifold holes in the engine. Hope no water got in there!

Since the motor and ground were drenched, I turned my attention to the manifolds. I wire brushed them the best I could. Then I blew the dust off with compressed air and put on a coat of phosphoric acid. I was hoping it would be dry enough for a coat of paint, but not today.

I found an area that I think was a repair (see pic). Also, there was another hole under the manifold similar to the one for the manifold vaccum hose on the top of the manifold. Is it supposed to be there and what is it's purpose? My petcock came out really nice, even though it is not supposed to be there!

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I can speak to the tube, the choke tube pokes into the top of that inner choke tube. When the air is drawn through the hole you asked about up through the top where the choke tube pokes in, it is heated before it gets to the choke tube piece that connects to the carb. That's the choke air inlet, if that makes sense.

The choke doesn't suck in exhaust air directly, it would clog the choke up mighty quick. Rather, exhaust gas heats that tube up and when air is passed through the center, it gets hot. The choke is pulling clean engine compartment air in slightly and it gets passed into the carb after going through the choke housing. No exhaust air should be touching any fresh air or choke parts unless that inner tube that's pressed into your exhaust manifold is rusted through, and then it needs replaced as you'll have an exhaust leak AND overheat the choke and clog it with soot.

Not sure about your 51 as i have a 50, the only vacuum connections were one on the carb for the dist timing advance, and one fitting near the front for wipers. I read a TSB that they moved the wipers one to the base of the carb to solve some rough idling when the wipers were on, i'm assuming it would over-lean the one cylinder the port is over if the wipers were active, and moving it distributed the extra incoming air over all cylinders.

The 4bbl manifold (53) i just put on has no fitting in the front, but a big one out of the intake manifold beneath the carb base out the rear, and again, one out the base of the carb.

Edit: where your petcock is, that's where the wiper pump "outlet" goes, it pumps air from the wipers and into the manifold, and the pump is a pass through at low rpms, the manifold draws the air in itself. It was a little brass-ish elbow on my manifold, and looks original.

You should be able to run a pipe cleaner through the choke stove tube, or see through it. If you plug one end and blow in the other, you shouldn't have any leakage or hear it leaking into the exhaust manifold.

I highly recommend:


Separating the manifolds

Having them both blasted with somewhat normal or gentle media

Coating the exhaust with something like POR-15 manifold grey

Painting the intake with something like dupont black engine enamel

new hot spot gasket with copper gasket spray

Bolt them together loose, square them up, and tighten them together tight.

Check the block face with a straight edge and have them milled together so they're flat.

No leaks, and will look great! Just did 2 sets of manifolds like that and they came out awesome.

Thanks cortcomp. Can you share pics of the manifold you have where I have a petcock? Thanks for your explanation of the tube in the manifold. I was afraid I had another part that was not supposed to be there. I am a little scared about separating the manifolds. I don't want to screw up the orientation, but I guess it is necessary to get a proper seal. Are the manifolds supposed to be different colors? I was just going to paint them cast iron gray.